In general machine tools, a plurality of tools is held in a tool magazine and a specific tool is removed or mounted back by a command from a controller.
Further, in the tool magazine, a gripper is disposed at one side of a chain, the chain is engaged with a plurality of chain sprockets, such that as the sprockets rotate, the chain moves to an automatic tool changer (ATC) where a tool at a specific position is removed, or mounts a tool sent from the ATC to the gripper of the chain.
However, each link constituting the chain is equipped with a gripper in the chain of the related art, but the chain bends outward only, not inward, when bending.
Since the chain cannot bend inward, any one gripper may interfere with an adjacent gripper or the chain cannot smoothly come in contact to the chain sprocket when bending backward.
Further, it is required to install more kinds of tools in order to machine workpieces having various shapes, but since the chain of the related art bends only outward in a convex shape, it is necessary to design and manufacture the tool magazine in a large size in order to increase the number of tools.
In particular, considering the size of the tool magazine and the number of tools, the occupied space inefficiently increases, such that a relatively small number of tools are necessarily disposed in a unit area.
The discussion above is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.